The Darkness of the Night
by EternalxDreamer
Summary: Witch x Witch-Hunter story. A romance/adventure story between Mother Malkin and an OC hunter, William Paige. Seventh Son x OC story.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: This is my first story, so I hope it's not too badly-written. Please excuse my bad english and any grammar/vocabulary mistakes I make, I will try to improve my writing as time goes by. Also, William Paige is basically Donald Sutherland in the movie An American Haunting. And, I own nothing apart from the story, characters/names belong to their respectful owners.

Chapter I

Midnight.

The forest under Pendle Mountain remained silent.

The occasional sounds of the owls, the whispering of the trees' leaves that share their own secrets through the soft wind and the constant rattle of the leafhoppers marked that night as a totally ordinary one to William Paige's mind. Though that was the opinion of a man who had never before hunted in that forest. But he wasn't a simple man either.

William Paige was a hunter, of some sorts, the best of his kind.

He was an Englishman, but had travelled to almost all of the known then world, due to his job. Because, you see, Lancashire had never had any "incidents" so far. Most of them happened in the Balkan Region, especially in Romania, but that was before his comrade, Van Helsing, killed Count Dracula. After his death, things seemed to start getting back to normal. Up until that very night.

William was sent to patrol the forest under Pendle Mountain under the orders of the Brethren of Witch-Hunters of England. There was a vote about it and William had gained the majority. There will be a time, however, when he will wish he never succeeded that day.

The day that declared his doom.

Back to that night, now. William is patrolling the many different paths of the silently beautiful forest. One of the many reasons he chose this job was that he had always felt strangely close to the magical creatures and, secretly, he couldn't deny that he admired most of them. It was as if, part of the darkness through the years had latched inside him, and he couldn't let go. Perhaps he didn't want to, for that matter.

He's reached the lake. The water is still, as if it is the surface of a mirror that the Moon uses to satisfy its narcissistic needs. That calmness and the stillness of the air here unsettles him. Suddenly everything has become so quiet, he can even hear his own breath in the silence of the night. At that moment, he sees her.

On the other side of the lake, a woman stands still, facing him.

The moonlight illuminates her form, and her red hair that falls down her waist. He feels as if he's in a dreaming state. In fact, he blinked, to be sure all this is real. And it is, she is still there. They face each other, none of them speaking. The very next moment, when he is ready to talk to her, a flash covers everything.

When his eyes recover from the temporary blindness, no one is facing him. No one is standing on the other side of that lake. Nothing is still and quiet anymore. "Witch, no doubt" William thinks to himself. He was a person who, unlike many people at that period, trusted his eyes and his senses more than anything.

He continues the patrol, positive that she can't have gone too far. He walks around the lake, and delves deeper into the forest, the darkness of the trees surrounding him, until he reaches an empty spot, an area where trees don't grow. He feels the ground, his keen sense telling him that this is the right place. She will be here. Right in front of him, there is a cave, that looks more like a sanctum.

He's determined to go inside, when the bells of the village start tolling in a certain way, signaling an attack by werewolves. The darkness of the sanctum is luring him, it's attracting him. He has to find her, that dark maiden of the night. But the people are in danger, and if there is someone who can save them, it's him. The moment he turns to leave, a sharp female voice is whispering in his head. "Wrong choice, William. What kind of person hunts and kills their own kind?".

He is petrified.

It's her. It must be her.

All of a sudden, he turns around and heads for the cave. What if she is the one behind the attack? What if she sent the werewolves? What if she is playing with his mind? There are more hunters in the village, surely they can deal with the werewolves. At least, until he finds the witch. That's the label he has chosen for her, until he knows for certain.

He walks in the cave with unflinching determination, his senses guiding him through the dark. As he explores the cave he can't help but notice that there's a distinctive scent that becomes more and more powerful as he heads forward, deeper into the darkness.

Blood.

Markings on the wall written recently with blood; ancient runes.

At one point, he reaches a dead end. But that can't be right, for there was only one path he could follow once he entered the cave. He lights a torch to investigate the place better. That's when he sees them.

The dead bodies.

Some recently deceased, others so old even skeletons start dissolving.

He feels his breath getting ragged, and drops of sweat running down his forehead. He's not a person who gets easily scared. He doesn't even know if terror is what has overwhelmed him now. There's a sudden breeze and the fire on his torch is immediately blown out, though there are some openings which let the moonlight do its work in the cave. At that point he decides to leave, head for the village. He will come again, when the sun can shed some light in this place.

He has almost reached the entrance of the cave. The bells are still tolling and he wonders if he'll manage to arrive at the village in time. He fills his gun with silver bullets and readies all of his weapons and he is about to leave.

"Hello, William."

End of Chapter


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Father Bartholomew, for those who want to have a more kind of cinematic approach of the story, is Christopher Lee to my mind.

Chapter II

William turns around, torch alight, only to stare at the empty space of the cave.

"Where are you? Show yourself!" He shouts and after a moment he hears a devilish laugh that seems to come from the depths of the sanctum. He approaches quickly the end of the cave once again, following the familiar stench of blood and death, this time intent on making her appear. "I'm here, as you wanted. Now, show yourself!"

He feels the same odd sense of stillness, only now it is accompanied by the soft sound of rain. A thunder, all of a sudden, breaks the silence. He turns around and it's at that moment that he sees the dark figure who, however, is far from whoever William expected to see.

"Seven hells! Where the hell have you been, William? Haven't you heard the bells?"

He is facing the leader of the Brotherhood, Father Bartholomew, master demon-hunter and one of his most loyal and trustworthy friends, who seems more than concerned to see him here.  
"I… I'm…" for a short moment, he reflects on all the incidents of the night and hesitates. "Never mind. Let's leave this place."

They leave the cave and head immediately for the village. But when they arrive, the sight is nothing like William expected, and it's something he will never forget for the rest of his days.  
Dead bodies everywhere and badly-injured people, houses burnt down to the ground, death and pain hovering all over the air. He has seen more than often the damage the werewolves can do, he knows this curse more than anyone, but this… this is something he has never seen before. A werewolf alone can't have done all this. Not even a pack of werewolves.

"I know what you're thinking, William. And it's true, no werewolf could do this… assault."

"Then why on earth did you signal it so?", William says as he examines the ground, that is covered by strange markings. The same with the ones in the cave, those ancient runes.

"That's the interesting part. We didn't. No one from this town, as far as I know, gave a signal for tonight's attack. No one managed to."

"You mean to tell me then that the village was attacked by something far worse than werewolves and someone from the village randomly rang the bells this way?"

"Could have happened like this. Surely you couldn't blame someone if they don't remember the appropriate alarming sound when their own homes are being burnt down and their families tortured and killed." Bartholomew approaches William. "Still, I'd say we can't see the forest for the tree. What matters now is to determine whatever… monster did this."

The truth hits William like a knife on his chest. It was all so obvious, why couldn't he see it from the very beginning? The alarm, the warning, the runes, the assault…  
"She warned me…" he says aloud, as if he's trying to believe what he just realized.

"Who warned you? What are you talking about?", Bartholomew asks.

William ignores him and tries to figure out the runes. In fact, he tries to memorize them. He has seen these markings again, and not just inside this cave. He has seen them during his journeys, carved on the walls of sanctums, written with blood on many victims' bodies… like a signature… of death.

"I think I know… who… did this."

"Thank you for paying some attention to me. Now, would you care to enlighten me as well?"

"I can't. I… it's something I have to figure out myself first. Then I can be sure…"

"William, what is wrong with you? You've never acted like that before. Besides, what if there's another attack before you take your time figuring out whatever is you're trying to figure out?"

"Because if I told you now that Mother Malkin is behind all this you wouldn't have believed me, would you?"

Unexpectedly, Bartholomew bursts into laughter. "I know that is not right of me to laugh in these times, but William… You really can't believe that… if I didn't know you better, I'd say you started losing your mind."

"See where I'm getting now? Just give me a few days' time and you will have my explanation about all this, justified with evidence you will believe." William gets on his horse and heads for his home, leaving Bartholomew behind shouting "Fine! If anything happens in the meantime, it's on your head!"

When he arrives at his home, more like a fortress to a stranger's eyes, he immediately starts his research about those ancient runes. He was right, his archives confirm that. On his hunts, he usually preferred to wound witches instead of killing them, because in most of the cases it was the greed of people of his own kind that triggered the witches' attack. It was at these times, when he chose not to kill them, that the day after they were wounded, the only thing left were those strange marks, and no sight of the witch.

He's now searching for "A Book of Legendary and Mythical Creatures, Volume III", one of a series of books that were given to him as a family heirloom, and one of the books that he, until this dreadful night, believed to be total gibberish. You see, for a myth to be proven real, that was a rare phenomenon.

"Ah, here it is. Mother Malkin is best known for being a Mythical Malevolent Witch. Mother Malkin preferred to employ the use of Blood Magic..." …markings… ancient runes… women in need… witches… attacks…

He searches for hours, always finding something that might point him in the right direction, only to be proven wrong by something else he reads later. All this tires him. He knows it's Malkin, but he needs to prove it before he goes any further. But how is it possible to relate facts to a possibly mythical creature? A figment of someone's imagination? At that moment, he starts drifting slowly to sleep.

The next moment, he is in the village. But it seems to be before the attack happened. Everything seems so safe and sound, but something inside him doesn't feel right. He notices it then. Full Moon. He's turned to a werewolf. He glances again at the village, everything is covered with blood, people are dying, houses are burnt. Bartholomew, on his horse, looks at William and points a finger at him. In the distance, there's this maiden again, wearing a familiar to him pendant.

"I told you it was the wrong choice, William."

"Nooo!" he wakes up screaming, only to realize all this was a nightmare. Everything seems to be in order, just as he found it the moment he arrived. Except for one thing; the medallion the woman in his dreams wore lies in front of him, on the page of the book that describes Mother Malkin.

"I'll find you, Malkin. That's a promise."

End of Chapter


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: I was inspired by the original book by Joseph Delaney "The Spook's Apprentice" in many parts of this story. Plus, sorry that the interaction between Malkin and William was so small [spoilers] but I want this story to develop much more than simply being a romance between them.

Chapter III

Darkness. Fire. Werewolves. Witch. Pendant. Malkin.

These are the words that occupy William's mind after his prophetic nightmare. Can there be some sense in all this madness? Or is he actually digging his own grave by following his instincts and, more importantly, that strange medallion that came to him in an even more strange way?

He notices then the first rays of the morning light. Ah, yes. Now is the time to begin his search for her. Now, that the sun can shed light upon everything that will take place, and whoever William is going to face is unable to lure him into the darkness.

He leaves his library, readies his weapons- a pouch with silver dust, some iron, salt and a silver blade- and heads for the stables. If he is going to face the darkness, he won't do it alone.  
He needs the help of someone who knows this field well enough.  
And that creature is Shadowless.

Shadowless is a boggart, artificially bound by William to be his servant. But, as William is a logical person and finds the conventional methods of binding a boggart barbaric, they made another agreement. Shadowless can be partially unbound as long as she, in the form of a mare, becomes William's companion. A fair enough accord for both of them.

He rides Shadowless and heads for the familiar cave under Pendle Mountain. During the journey, he reflects on last night's incidents. There is only one thing that relates the incidents to Mother Malkin, supposing she was the one who lured William into the cave; blood.

He crosses the forest, encounters the lake where she first appeared to him and, after passing the other hauntingly beautiful forest, he arrives at the clearing. He gets off Shadowless, ties her to a nearby post and goes inside the cave.

As he walks deeper and deeper into the cave he notices once again the ancient runes in the walls and ceiling.  
Some of them are the same ones with those on the pendant, but there are more among them that William does not recognize.

The smell of rotting corpses hits him.

He must be close to the end of the sanctum.

He does hit a dead end but something is not right. Everything seems... dead. Literally and figuratively. The previous time he entered the cave it seemed as though whatever was inside the cave was giving its life to the whole place, it was leading William further. Now it's gone.

And then he notices it.

Just next to his right foot, a strange pattern on the ground. He takes a closer look, touches the peculiar form of it and then, unconsciously, touches the pendant hanging around his neck. "It must be some kind of key" he thinks to himself and presses the medallion to the ground. It fits like a key to a padlock. And then everything is covered by light.

Some moments later, after his eyes recover from the sudden flash, nothing is the same. Well, everything is pretty much the same, only instead of a dead end, now a path of thirteen steps lies before him, leading to a darker part of the cave, a place that no ray of sun can reach.

Determined to discover whatever lies in this cave he starts walking down the steps. In the end of the stairs, he sees an area, more like a smaller cave into the original cave, with only one object in it.  
Something like a fountain or a big chalice, with a dark red, mettalic-smelling liquid in it.  
Blood.

That familiar sense of stillness returns, but this time to a far greater extent. He feels paralyzed, his feet numbing. It's as if time has stopped and the darkness of the creature in the cave is trying to reach for the darkness that lies inside him. He shivers, feeling something cold touching his neck.

Dragon scales.

"Hello, William" someone whispers in his ear, almost touching him.

He turns around and he sees her. That same maiden who haunted his mind in his nightmare and at the lake. Only now, he has a better view of her, and sees all of her form.  
She is as exquisitely beatiful as deadly.

The legend is true; it is Mother Malkin.

He looks down, reaches for the medallion.

"Looking for this?" He turns around to find her behind him once more, holding the pendant in front of him. "You may as well keep it, it's of no use to me... yet." She throws it at him.

"What do you want from me?"

She approaches him again, her black-as-coal eyes piercing his own as she does, and grins.

"There is darkness within you, why do you, thus, deny it?"

"You failed to answer my question."

"You came searching for me. Therefore, what do you want from me? Have you come here to kill me?"

William halts for a moment. What did he go there for? What did he expect to do to her after finding her? That's a part he hasn't thought. He never thought he would meet her in the first place.

"And you've brought your little pet with you. How sweet..."

"Why don't you kill me now?" William asks her, as he walks towards her. "What are you afraid of?"

She bursts into laughs. "There would be no point in me killing you and, besides, even if I were to kill you I do like to toy with my food first."

"And what could you possibly need that I could give to you?" William says, turning the medallion in his hands.

"You can free me."

He bursts into laughs this time, partly trying to cover the strange feeling that overwhelms him. Can it be fear?

"And why on earth would I want to free you?"

She turns and looks at him. That moment, a voice speaks into his head: "Stop refusing the darkness inside you. Let me reach it, let me set you free. And you shall find your peace by letting me free. I can already see how you lust for me."

He shakes his head, not believing what is happening. He tries to comprehend what she wants from him, what she asks of him.

But, oh, how beautiful she is...

"Isn't justice what you seek? Well, free me and you shall have your justice. I can provide it for you."

"What the hell are you talking about? If I free you I condemn every human being to death! How-"

Suddenly, he feels her tail piercing his hand, deep enough for some drops of blood to run down his hand. She snatches the medallion from him and positions it so that the blood drops on the center.

Everything is blurry and spinning now. William is falling to his knees, but he can still see the form of Malkin, whose last words to him are:

"Consider better where you place your trust. You know where to find me."

The last thing William hears before passing out is the alarming bells of the recently attacked village. Werewolf. Again.

End of Chapter


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter IV

"Where... where am I?"

William wakes up in an unfamiliar, at first glance, place. He blinks a few times, trying to regain his senses, feeling somewhat paralyzed after the previous night's events.

"Rest, my friend. You don't seem to be able to talk about what happened yesterday yet."

He is trying to figure out who the blurry figure standing in front of him is. He can't. He passes out again.

He wakes up. He is in Bartholomew's house, but has no recollection of how he ended up here. He glances at the window. "Still morning? How many hours have I been sleeping?"

"Two days."

Ah, he must have said that aloud.

"So, do you think you are able to talk about what happened now?"

William gets up from the bed and starts pacing up and down the dining room, while Bartholomew is sitting silently on a chair, hands crossed. "What exactly happened that I need to explain?", William stops pacing and just stands there, looking at the floor, trying to avoid his friend's gaze.

"Do you, really, not remember anything or are you doing that on purpose?"

"For God's sakes, Bartholomew, just tell me!" He feels a rage he's never experienced before. His fists are clenched and he is slightly trembling.

"No, William, you tell me what you remember. You already know what has happened. Why are you trying to deny it?"

"Very well. I met Malkin, we talked, she took the medallion that was the key to her prison and then everything is a blur. That's it."

"What are you talking about, William? What is that nonsense about Mother Malkin again?"

"I saw her, Bartholomew, I talked with her, I... she even pierced my hand with her tail, if you don't believe my words you'll have your evidence-" he looks at his hand only to see that there wasn't any mark there anymore. "This can't be right... She...". She toys with his mind.

Bartholomew stands up, approaches William, puts a hand on his back. "I'm sorry, I upset you. Sit down and we will just talk about it, like civilized people do."

William looks at Bartholomew, then at his hand, confused, and eventually sits down.

"I remember one more thing. The bells. The alarming sound for the werewolves. And then, nothing. I must have passed out... Now will you finally tell me what happened? What do I not remember?"

"I will just cut to the chase. A werewolf attacked the baker and his family."

His words cut him like a knife to his heart. He simply looks at Bartholomew, unable to talk or move. Is it possible that he...

"Are... are they alive?"

"Yes, they are. But their little boy was scratched."

William tenses at that.

In general, it is possible for werewolves to turn other people to werewolves only when the Blood Moon rises and that's a rare occasion. Though, not for the last four years.

"Yes, William, it's what you're thinking. You did this."

At that moment, he remembers Malkin's last words to him.

 _"Consider better where you place your trust. You know where to find me."_

"Who witnessed the whole incident?" William asks curiously.

"Only I saw you transforming to a werewolf. The attacked family and the villagers only saw a werewolf attack so they rang the bells. That's why, I wanted to tell you that earlier, I will not tell anybody about this. No one has to know since no actual harm was done, everyone is safe and sound. But, in the meantime, try to contain yourself. Otherwise, there are other people who will contain him for you, and we both know it would be wiser to avoid that." And with those words, Bartholomew left William alone in his house.

William gathers his belongings and heads for his house. Once again, he rides Shadowless and together they head for Pendle Mountain.

During the journey he tries again to remember all of the events that Bartholomew told him took place after his meeting with Malkin. Strangely, after he last heard the bells of the village he remembers only passing out. Nothing more. But if Bartholomew said he saw him transform... and what about Malkin's last words? Nothing makes sense... yet.

At one point, they encounter some ancient ruins he has never seen before. "That must be the place..." he thinks to himself as they approach the sight which, the closer they get, the more and more voluminous it gets.

As they approach the mountain, William feels someone is constantly watching them. He occasionally looks over his shoulder, deciding eventually that it was probably his own imagination. It feels, however, as if the whole place is covered by Malkin's presence... Like her darkness has fallen upon the whole of Pendle Mountain.

In front of him now lies her most possible hideout. A whole palace built inside the mountain. William gets down from Shadowless but this time, he lets her go home. He doesn't know how long he will be there, and he won't let Malkin do her any harm.

He walks up the stone stairs outside the palace and just stands there looking at the place in front of him. He had seen it before, but at that time it was all covered with ashes and dust and ghasts were roaming in the rooms. It had been burnt down along with the witches who found shelter in it. William had thought that an unnecessary action, but he could not defy a whole crowd. This time, however, it is different.

He casts one last glance behind him and finally decides to get inside. Everything is back in its place, as it was before the fire. Golden chandeliers are hanging of the ceiling, new furniture decorate the rooms, everything seems so warm and welcome... But no, he has to find Malkin. That's the only reason he has come here for.

"I see you like my new home..." she whispered once again at his ear. He turns around and sees her. The same, sublime woman he encountered the last time in the cave. Only, something is different this time. She has blood on her hands. Her claws are covered with it. He glances at her hands, trying not to stare, though. She notices and puts a hand on his chest. "Care for a taste?"

He just stares at her for a moment, but then he immediately steps back, trying to avoid her touch.

"Oh, don't worry, I don't bite... at least not when I'm properly fed." She said and laughs the same devilish laugh he heard the first time he went inside the cave. "But you are not here to dine with me. So, what are you here for, William?"

The sound of his name on her voice...

"You already know why I'm here."

"I do, but I want to hear it from you. I like the sound of your voice." She's torturing him. He wants to love her as much as he wants to kill her. He approaches her once more. "Why are you doing this to me? What do you want from me?" he asks her in a curious tone.

This time she addresses him directly, instead of speaking inside him. "I've told you before, I know there is darkness within you and you know it too. Why won't you let it reach the surface?"

"Because if I do, I condemn innocent people to death. You have caused enough death already, I could not let more people suffer. I will not."

"You won't let the people who killed your own family suffer?" she looks deeply into his eyes. "Those people out there are as much savages as you think yourself to be."

"That's... that's not true. My kind... they've caused great suffering..." he seems troubled at her words, however. As if, deep inside him, he is considering what she says to him, although he denies it on the outside.

"But you know it's true, William. Those people you protect, those who you trust have murdered your kin in cold blood. If they knew about you as well, what do you think would hold them from doing the same to you?"

"What do you care about me, anyway? Why are you so interested in me?" it doesn't bother him that much, however. Her interest in him. He is interested in her as well, otherwise he wouldn't even bother chasing her in the first place.

She chuckles slightly and walks towards him, almost closing the distance between them. "If you let me help you find your peace we can rule this land together. Our clans, united. Wouldn't you want that, William?" Her mouth is dangerously close to his as she speaks her last words. He will kiss her, he wants to so badly.

"No. I can't do this. You are right, my family has suffered because of the human kind but no, I will not condemn innocent people to death because of that. What was done in the past, is done."

Her anticipation changes quickly to anger. She is trembling from her rage. She claws his shirt with her hands and winds her tail around him, so that he cannot go anywhere. "You will regret this, William. I will hunt down every living person until there is no one left you can protect, and you will know your actions led to their deaths..." She speaks inside his mind once again: "I know you want me, William. Do not deny your lust for me, join me and we can be together..."

"No... I will not join you, and that is my last word. I will not let any more people die because of you."

She looses her grip of her tail on him and starts stepping back, laughing at the same time. "Oh, but it's not me who will _lead_ _all those people to their doom_ " she says mockingly as she starts transforming to a dragon.

"It's you."

End of Chapter


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: I mentioned somewhere the Wolf Fell. I took that name from The Spook's Apprentice, it's one of the hills of Lancashire.

Chapter V

"It's not me who will lead all those people to their doom. It's you."

With these last words, Malkin transforms to a dragon and disappears on the horizon, leaving William alone inside her hideout. Her words are clouding every other thought in his mind because, simply, he knows very well what she meant by that... He can feel it in his bones...

His eyes become blurry and he feels anger and rage taking over him. "No, no... not... again..." he says as he struggles not to give in.

"Succumb, William... Fighting it is pointless... Darkness will eventually consume you, give in to it..." her voice speaks inside his mind and he feels everything else fade... Perhaps it's already too late...

He leaves Pendle Mountain and heads for the village immediately, imagining that would be the first place Malkin would attack. As he crosses the forest, he starts feeling a certain numbness overwhelm him. He falls on his knees. "No..." he sees the lake. He drags himself there, unable to get up, and glances at the water. Only now, he wishes that he hadn't. It's already too late. The wolf has reached the surface. "I'll kill you, Malkin!... I'll.. kill..."

And then, nothing. Darkness, everywhere.

When he regains his senses, he sees in front of him a sight very similar to the first attack. Only, now, everything that has happened, it did so under the light of day. He is in the village, though without knowledge of how he got there. He is in chains, as well. He sees Bartholomew.

"Wh-what happened?". Inside him, he can sense what has happened, however, he simply wants someone else to tell him, hoping he won't hear what he expects to hear...

Bartholomew approaches him, grabs him by the collar of his, now mainly torn, shirt and turns him around to see all the death and suffering. "Do you see? See what you have done? I told you to restrain yourself, but you didn't listen! You will now face the consequences." He hits him on his stomach, William falls on his knees and someone from behind knocks him unconscious.

He wakes up inside a prison cell in the dungeons. His limbs are sore and his throat is itchy. He notices guards outside of his cell. "Some... water, please..." he walks towards the bars of his cell.

One of the guards approaches the cell holding a flask and extends his hand through the bars. "Here you go, dog!" he mocks him and instead of giving the flask to him he just turns it around and lets the water fall down on the ground. Anger rises inside William as he hears the guards laughing at him. In one swift movement he grabs the guard who mocked him by his shirt through the cell bars. "Don't. You. Mock. Me." he says as he applies more and more pressure at the guard's neck.

"Do it, William. You have it in you, do it!" Her voice speaks inside him. He tries not to listen to her. He can't. He kills the guard with his bare hands.

The other guards stand there speechless for a moment, glancing both at the dead body in front of them and at William, who is heavily breathing. Everyone starts distancing himself from the cell, and William sits on the bed of his cell, looking at the guard he killed. His elbows rest on his knees and he buries his face in his hands. Is that it? Has he become a cold-blooded killer? Just like that?

He gets up and paces towards the window of the cell. "Malkin! Where are you?" he shouts in desperation. "I accept your offer! Just stop this madness, please...". He gazes at the sky, hoping to see her in her dragon form nearby, but nothing. He goes back at the bed and lies down, looking at the ceiling, until he hears footsteps. He notices Bartholomew at the end of the corridor, approaching his cell. He gets up from the bench and walks towards the bars as well.

Bartholomew looks down on the ground and notices the dead guard. "Just tell me one thing, William. What good did it do to you, killing that guard? Did it quench your thirst for blood?"

"You've known me for so long, Bartholomew. When have I ever given you reason to believe such things for me? Before Malkin appeared I-"

"That nonsense about Malkin again! Guards! Go fetch my cross and some silver dust! Clearly, this man has been possessed!"

William looks at him curiously. He can't really believe that.

After the guards leave, Bartholomew leans forward, towards William and whispers to him "I'm here to get you out, my friend. That's why I said this earlier, I needed to remove the guards." He unlocks the door of the cell.

"I have horses waiting outside, we must be quick!"

They manage to sneak out of the dungeons without being detected, and William sees Shadowless and one more horse waiting in the distance. For a moment, he wonders how did Bartholomew manage to bring Shadowless here, since the latter is bound only to William.

"Here are the horses, as I told you. Let's go!"

They ride the horses but when they start to leave, William halts. "We have to head to your home first. You confiscated my weapons and belongings while I was in the cell, didn't you?"

"Why, yes, of course. You are right, my friend. Let's head there first to take care of this."

And with this being said, they head for Bartholomew's home. William finds his belongings in a rack beside the front door. "I knew you'd finally believe what I told you about Malkin, my friend" he says as he gathers his weapons. "Now you know why I have to find Malkin, this madness has to stop. That's why I'm heading to Pendle Mountain. I'm going to find her and-"

"No, you don't have to go there."

"Of course I have to, my friend. I have to go there and find her because it's the only way-"

"You don't understand. You don't have to go there to find her."

At that moment, he notices the ancient red pendant on the shelf. He takes it in his hand, runs his thumb accross the runes on it and turns around, only to find Mother Malkin standing exactly where Bartholomew stood.

"You don't have to go find her, because she's already found you" she says to him and walks towards him.

He stands motionless and speechless for a moment. "Where is he?"

She chuckles. "Dead. And for quite a long time, I might add. Along with his _best friend, the Spook_ " she says mockingly. "Do you remember when they left the Council to hunt those demons that supposed to be haunting the Wolf Fell? Well, let's say they encountered something far worse than that and, unfortunately, they never made it back here."

"That's why Gregory disappeared..." William thinks aloud. Everything seems to start making some sense now. There is one thing, though, that William still doesn't comprehend. "Why are you after me? What do you want that I can give you?"

"I've told you, already, _my dear William_." She gets closer to him, her tail coiling around his waist. "I want you to leave this place and join me, so that we can rule these lands together, you and me."

He looks inside her eyes, mesmerized once more by her excquisite beauty. He runs his hand through her long red hair and rests it onher collarbone, softly caressing it. They have locked eyes, and for him nothing else exists. Only this moment. But, for a moment, he diverts his eyes from her and feels as if he was hypnotized a moment ago. "Why me? Why not anyone else?"

"I've told you, William, because you have the darkness in you, and you've proven that more than once, especially today, even if you refuse to accept it. You will give in to me, eventually and you know it."

"What makes you think that I will follow _you_ , of all people? You've been driving me mad since I met you, you killed all these innocent people, you killed my _brothers,_ and you still believe that I will join you?"

"Yes, because even now that you know I killed the only person whom you trusted, you only think about me."

"No, that's... that's not true, Bartholomew, he-"

She puts one hand on his chest and the other around his neck and brings his face closer to hers. "Don't lie to me, William. I can see in your eyes how much you want me. And that lust for me would not cease to exist even if I told you I killed everyone to the very last person of this place. And I _would_ do it, William, if that was what needed to be done to bring you to me."

"I'm not the kind of person you describe. You've corrupted my mind from the very moment I saw you in that lake!" He steps towards her and she has to step back until she hits the edge of the table. "You've made me kill innocent people, you always were there when all the attacks happened and-"

"I wasn't there, however, when you killed this guard tonight."

He stops there, for a moment, realizing she actually might be right about this. He didn't feel at all out of himself when he led that man to his death.

"You did that by your own will." She grins and looks deeply at him. "And do you remember the look on the other guards' faces? You know what they were all thinking."

"No, they-"

"How did we let this monster protect us all this time?"

He feels his rage rising inside him. He will kill her. He will...

"He is the nightmare that haunts our children at night, he is even worse than those witches he hunts. He is a monster."

He is trembling. He sees a silver knife at the table and with a swift movement he snatches it from behind her. He holds it right next to her heart. He has to kill her, to end his suffering. He can't. He lets the knife fall from his hand. He kisses her, long and hard, while pushing her towards the table.

He kisses her and his hands caress her neck, her shoulders, her waist... He even feels her shiver under his touch. His kisses are rough, filled with all his desire for her, longing... When she feels his touch getting more and more demanding she slightly pushes him away. "Not here, we have to leave."

With that, he takes his coat and effects and they get outside of the house. He goes for his horse but she stops him. "No, you won't need that." And with these words, she transforms into a dragon and waits for him to get on her back.

He is hesitant, but now it's already too late to be having second thoughts. He walks towards her and before getting on her back he halts.

"No. There's something I have to do first."

End of Chapter


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: First of all, sorry I haven't uploaded a new chapter earlier, I didn't really have that much inspiration :/ Also, I have to mention that Chipenden is a village name from The Spook's Apprentice again.

Chapter VI

"There's something I have to do first."

She looks at him curiously, her tail getting dangerously close to him.

He chuckles. "At this point I wouldn't try to betray you, you have my word. And, of the two of us, I think I am the one to be trusted, don't you?"

She doesn't respond, only shakes her head waiting for him to finish this business he has to attend to.

He runs to the stables, hoping to find Shadowless there. He spots her form and rushes towards her. For a moment he stops, just looking at the beautiful black mare before him. He touches her in the front of her head and whispers to her. "You've been my faithful companion for years. I release you, now, you're free."

She still stands there, both looking at each other. He sees something in her eyes, as if she is trying to tell him something. Perhaps she is thanking him for releasing her. Who knows? And then, she's gone. She reared and galloped outside of the stable and in the darkness of the night.

William just stares at the night sky for a little while, trying to figure out how all this happened to him. He decides to leave that thought for another day. Now it's already too late, anyway, both literally and figuratively.

He finds Malkin again, waiting for him. "Alright, it's done. We may leave now."

He gets on her back and they disappear in the darkness. As they fly, William finds himself once more pondering about whether this was right or not. He knows it's wrong, but he can't deny it, not this time. Too long he has suffered.

After some time, they reach her hideout in Pendle. She lands in front of her palace, waits for William to get down and, as he does, she immediately turns into a witch again.

They head inside and he can't help but notice once again how she has transformed this place. Everything is gold and shining and oriental carpets decorate the floors. Somehow, however, all this upsets him. How she killed his comrades, how she laughed about it, how she lured him here and he just can't contain himself anymore.

"How long have you been planning all this?" he says as he turns to face her.

She grins and approaches him, puts her hands around his neck. "Too long." She kisses him fiercely, pushing him towards one of the couches. He sits and she gets on his lap. He can't control himself any longer. For a moment he just looks inside her eyes and, in her dilated pupils he sees himself... changing... He grips her neck in his hands, roughly but not enough to strangle her, reaches for the fabric of her dress and tears her gown apart.

He can feel her shiver with pleasure -and, slightly, fear?- when he touches her, when he kisses her along her collarbone, his teeth slightly biting on her flesh. She winds her arms around him, her claws scratching his back from pleasure. With every scratch of her, he feels his rage taking over his passion and vice versa. It's a game of love and war.

They make love and it's as if nothing else exists, as if time has stopped at this moment. This moment, when their intertwined bodies, illuminated by the light of the Blood Moon share a passion for each other that had been withheld for a long time. They crave each other with a lust none of them had experienced before. Two creatures of the night colliding, sharing their longing for darkness.

They bring each other to the edge at the same moment, both of them gasping and moaning with pleasure. As they lay on the couch, he on top of her, he kisses her, but this time all his passion and lust and rage for her have subsided and his caresses are more tender. He can even see her lips twisting a little, forming some kind of smile. Is there a lighter side of her, after all?

They both drift off slowly to sleep, holding each other in their arms, listening to one another's ragged breaths.

The rattle of the windows wakes him up in the morning and as he looks at his surroundings, he is partially confused. But then it all comes back to him. How they feasted on each other's flesh the previous night. But why is he in a cell... again? Though, that cell is quite different than the previous one, in the village. And this time, he is chained in the wall.

At this moment, he sees Malkin walking down the stairs to his cell. She has a devilish smile on her face as she approaches him, that makes him feel as if he made a deal with the Devil himself, sealed with their passion of the previous night.

"Good morning, William." She approaches the cell, and he approaches the bars from inside as well.

"What's the meaning of this?" he asks as he feels his anger rising inside him.

"Oh, the chains? Just a precaution. You see, I can't let you out and about without knowing you really have embraced the darkness."

He just stares at her, trying to understand what she just told him. "I attacked an innocent man and his family, I killed a guard in cold blood while I was imprisoned... what else do you need to be convinced?"

"Well, as for that, know that I was the one who attacked that baker and his child. I just wanted to toy with you a bit, make you believe you are _such a monste_ r."

He feels his rage devouring him whole.

"But you haven't convinced me yet that you are willing to accept yourself, your _true_ self. Until you do, you'll be locked here."

In a quick movement, he breaks his chains and approaches her even more. At this point, his eyes have turned yellow and his claws and fur have started growing bigger and longer. With another movement he bends the bars of his cell, comes outside and, swiftly, pushes Malkin against the wall, his claws slightly piercing her waist.

"What was that? I haven't convinced you yet?"

She looks at him, partially amused, and puts a hand on his chest. Can he sense a slight fear in her eyes?

"The hunters of Chipenden have captured a bunch of werewolves and young women which they think to be witches, all of them innocent."

At the moment she mentions the word "innocent", he cringes, and he feels as if a knife is piercing his heart. He knows this pain all too well.

"They intend to burn them in the pyre, flay them as they did to your family. All those people whom you have protected for all these years are about to commit atrocities far worse than the monsters you've been chasing ever did. Aren't you going to take your revenge?"

By the time she ends talking, he has fully transformed into a wolf.

"You're right. I am."

End of Chapter


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: So sorry for being absent but inspiration was far gone... But now I think I am finding my muse again so I will be writing more of the fic!

Chapter VII

By the time he arrives at Chipenden, most of the young women and werewolves, regardless of their innocence, are already burned.

On the back of his mind, his conscience screams that this might be wrong, that he shouldn't take rash decisions like this. But the time for thinking and considering his options is long gone.

The angry mob, driven by their hatred for the accused, haven't sensed William's presence yet, so he decides to take advantage of the fact, use the element of surprise.

There is only one woman left, tied in the pyre. He can see the fear and the tears in her eyes. He decides to strike. After all, he was a man who could not stand injustice, especially to those who couldn't, under the circumstances, defend themselves. So, he decides to strike.

It seems as if only just a moment has passed between the time he decides to attack and the time the fight is over. But during this moment, there has been shed more blood than it has had during periods of war.

The moment he takes human form again the truth of these events dawns on him. Always the same truth. The same in the first dream, the same in the first attack, the same now.

Always blood.

The woman is alive and looking at him in the eye, petrified by the events that took place before her. He slowly approaches her, not wanting to frighten her more.

As he walks towards her, he sees all the people lying dead on the ground and wonders if all this was worth it to save just one woman. All the pain and suffering and this bloodbath, just for one single life. At the moment, it's crucial to him to believe that it is.

He cuts her bonds and frees her from the post, but when he tries to reassure her that everything will be fine from now on, she takes a step back. He starts to take a step forward slowly, but she just turns around and runs away.

It's a waste of time for him to try and shout for her that he's saved her. How safe is she, really? How safe is anyone he tries to save? He's the danger for her, he's the beast in people's nightmares and he saw much more fear in her eyes when the battle was over than when she was tied in that pyre.

He knows now why Malkin sent him here. And he knows that she was right all along.

He hears a familiar neigh. He turns his head and sees Shadowless right behind him. He runs his hand through the horse's hair. "You're never going to abandon me, are you? Not even when everybody has lost their faith on me. Not even when I have lost my faith in..."

The Boggart in response moves so that he can ride her and together they head once more through the forest in the darkness of the night.

The first rays of sun have already started peering through the clouds by the time they reach Pendle Mountain. He farewells Shadowless once more, but this time she refuses to leave. She just stands there waiting for him to get inside. He runs his hand through the horse's mane and whispers. "You leave. Leave and never come back for me, do you hear me? Never... the person you knew is dead and gone. I'm no more the witch-hunter who was your friend... So, just leave."

He turns around and starts heading inside when something makes him stop abruptly. A voice in his head.

"I told you it was the wrong choice, William. You never listen..."

He turns around. Nothing and no one. "Great, now I'm losing my mind as well..." he thinks when it suddenly hit him.

The voices in his head... the strange dream... the warnings about Malkin... "From the very beginning... you warned me not to approach her..."...

He can't stop the thoughts coming to his head, but he can't focus on them either. His emotions change from despair and disappointment to anger and hatred as he bursts into the hideout in the mountain.

His need to find Malkin is so desperate that he doesn't even notice that Bony Lizzie along with her daughter are there too. When he sees them, he approaches the latter, grasps her by her arms ignoring her mother's shouts. " _WHERE_ is she? Tell me now, witch!"

"What took you so long?" Malkin enters the main hall.

William lets go of Alice, turns around and walks towards Malkin, his anger driving him mad, his eyes already changing color and the monster inside him already coming out. "Why did you do this? WHY did you want me to go to this damn village?!"

Malkin shrugs and starts pacing up and down. "I thought it was obvious. You just proved that you are capable of coherent thought unlike those uncivilised villagers you killed." She stops. "Oh. Are we having second thoughts now? Did you regret the choice you make? Oh, pity there is no living person left to apologize to."

He rushes towards her, pinning her to the wall. "Why are you doing all of this? You said you wanted me to embrace my nature, didn't you? Well, here I am, I embraced it quite _enough_ , don't you think? You've made me a far more hideous monster than I ever thought myself to be." His hands are on her neck, almost choking her. Bony Lizzie and Alice try to stop him, but fear takes hold of them the moment he lays a glance at them and they leave.

" _I_ didn't make you do anything. It was your choice. Everything was _your_ choice." She feels his claws piercing her skin. His hold on her gets tighter.

"My choice, you say? Very well, let's accept that. But know that the monster is set free now, so mind your words. You never know when you might be my next victim. Now that I'm thinking about it, I could snap your neck and be rid of you once and for all with just a flicker of my hand..."

It is at this exact moment that he sees it. The fear in her eyes. She tries very well to hide it, but it's impossible. She almost starts quivering, but manages to get a hold of herself. "Why don't you do it, then? What stops you? Go on, kill me!"

He raises his hand, as if wanting to slap her or even kill her, but stops mid-air. Instead, he cups the side of her face and kisses her fiercely, all of his anger fading into lust. She kisses him back, her hands running through his thick grey hair.

He carries her to her private rooms where they spend the night together. The hours pass and the only sound breaking the silence of the night is their moans and ragged breaths as they frantically make love.

When he wakes up, he doesn't know how much time has passed from the moment he arrived at the hideout. He only knows that he is in Malkin's bed, with her lying beside him looking at the ceiling. She turns her head to face him. He can see the marks he's left at her neck.

"Why didn't you kill me?" the only words she can say.

He averts his gaze from her, gets up from the bed and heads to the window, staring at the cloudy sky. There are a few moments of silence between them, that seem like an eternity to both of them.

He turns his head to face her.

"Because I'm sick of being the last of my kind."

End of Chapter


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